Sly Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old sly quotes, sly sayings, and sly proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

It was a sly trick of God's to give a man work to do - it kept him from asking questions that God couldn't answer. Martha Ostenso
Cunning is strength withheld. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Cunning and treachery are the offspring of incapacity. Francois de la Rochefoucauld
The crafty person is always in danger; and when they think they walk in the dark, all their pretenses are transparent. John Tillotson
A clever mind is not a heart. Knowledge doesn't really care, wisdom does. Benjamin Hoff
A sly old fish, too cunning for the hook. George Crabbe
A sly piece of good luck, which nobody knows of is delightful. Publilius Syrus
Cunning is the dwarf of wisdom. William Rounseville Alger
The greatest cunning is to have none at all. Carl Sandburg
Love is a cunning weaver of fantasies and fables. Sappho
Cunning differs from wisdom as twilight from open day Samuel Johnson
It would seem that the more irresponsible and crafty one is, the more likely one is to have a talent for storytelling. Osamu Dazai
Clever tyrants are never punished. Voltaire
A clever man commits no minor blunders. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The desire to seem clever often keeps us from being so. Francois de la Rochefoucauld
A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. Albert Einstein
It is easy to be clever if you leave something important out. Peter Redgrove
To be clever in argument is not rationality but rationalization. Eliezer Yudkowsky
Everybody is clever, just in their own ways. Matt Groening
Clever men are good, but they are not the best. Thomas Carlyle